Red Ranger Of Fate
by The Other Jet Engine
Summary: (quasi-Independence Day AU, guest-starring Aisha Campbell) 65 million and a thousand years ago, they thought it was the end. In the year 3017, a new hope arises. And the most important thing is, the Red String Of Fate can still connect two people that are millions apart of each other. Or:Six teenagers, a buncha dinosaurs, and a truck save the universe.
1. Prelude-You Forgot The Lie In Believe

_AKA:10 Lies You Still Believe About Dinosaurs(And...STOP THE REX HATE!)_

* * *

 **We all know Jurassic World took some liberties with its movie monsters, but it turns out your teachers might not have been much more accurate.**

 **From the T-Rex's underrated arms to the Velociraptor's overrated brain power, here are 10 lies about dinosaurs you still believe before we get to the main story. (Also, there's a bonus section about how the T-Rex had been depicted as evil in most dinosaur media with the only exception being the Jurassic Franchise's Rexy, and how it needs to be stopped.)**

 **The main story is a cross between Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger and my two brainmade movies, Civil War Collision Course and The Avengers:United They Stand. It** **gets a Gurren Lagann vibe towards the end,** **has Aisha Campbell AKA Lady Das(who is the commander of an entire army of Zords, you'll eventually find out what kinda dinos they are.) and several OCs such as Lorelei(who is half human and half Predator X), and a little girl named Lily who is the owner of the Spino Zord. Some chapter titles are in English, others are in Hawaiian.**

 **Trini drives a truck, so her parents are afraid of her in this fic instead of berating her.**

 **Begins as Jason X Kim but ends up as Jason X Zordon.** **Additional pairings ar** **e** **Kim X Billy, Zack X Trini, Tommy X Lorelei, Zedd X Rita, Goldar X Scorpina, Rykar(Former Blue Ranger) X Senna(Former Pink Ranger) and heavily referenced Captain America X Iron Man.**

 **As well as having OCs(and Aisha, for that matter), this fic is heavily associated with a deceased Leyenar Oh(since there's no way I'd be alive 'till 3017).**

 **Gosh, I do hope** **this story inspires more Jason X Zordon fics into the fandom so I can favorite all of 'em!**

* * *

 _10:Dinosaurs Roared_

We all love a good dino roar(just like what goes with the Zords in this fic). But in reality, a lot o' dinosaurs probably sounded a lot more like geese. Yeah, scientists now think that dinosaurs sounded less like terrifying predators and more like modern-day birds. Paleontologists examining ancient bird fossils have found evidence of a syrinx, the organ that allows birds to make their chattering and chirping noises. Although there's no evidence of this organ in dino remains, a similar organ that allowed them to honk like geese has been suggested. With dinosaurs and birds already being so closely genetically linked, a twittering Triceratops is not as unlikely as it sounds. In fact, there's never really been much evidence for the claim that they roared other than that they really look like they should've roared. Only one dinosaur voice box has ever been preserved, and there's no evidence of them having the larynxes needed to roar. _But the Zords ain't living creatures, they're robots, so let's count 'em outta this, shall we?_

 _9:Velociraptors Were Smart_

Jurassic Park did for Velociraptors what years of PR couldn't do for the Kardashians:convince us that they're smart. Because they hunted in packs and managed to survive in a world full of much bigger predators, it's easy to imagine that these "raptors" were super intelligent. And for dinosaurs, they were. Velociraptors belonged to the family Dromaeosauridae, one of the cleverest families of dinosaur, and they had very large brains for their size. The problem is, smart for a dinosaur ain't really that smart. Although exact IQs are hard to work out on living creatures, let alone dead ones, experts reckon that the raptor was only as just as smart as that other terrifying genius:the rabbit. That's less intelligent than traditionally clever animals like apes, dolphins and elephants. Even less than dogs. So turns out the raptor wasn't such a "clever girl" after all.

 _8:The T-Rex Had Weak Arms _

The T-Rex has always been a badass dinosaur. After all, it had teeth the size of bananas and a bite more powerful than any other creature that has ever lived. But the Tyrannosaurus always had one major downside:Its seemingly useless arms. Despite being attached to an animal that was 12 meters tall, the T-Rex's arms were only a meter long and couldn't reach its mouth or even help it up if it fell over. So what good were they? Well, research from 1990 suggests that the T-Rex's arms were incredibly strong. The bones were 3 times as thick as a human's, and the T-Rex's bicep alone could lift as much as 181 kg. That's about as much as a piano. One researcher even called the T-Rex "the Schwarzenegger of dinosaurs". That strength would allow the Tyrannosaurus to pin its prey to the ground while getting in position to deliver the infamous bite. So there you have it, science has conclusively proved that it's not about size but how you use it.

 _7:The Triceratops_

It's many people's favorite dinosaur, even Billy Cranston has his own Tricera Zord in the main story. But, the Triceratops may not have actually existed. Remains of the iconic 3-horned skull were originally thought to belong to a unique species of dinosaur:the Triceratops. However, as more and more fossils are uncovered, it looks increasingly likely that a completely different dino was just the teenage version of the similar-looking Torosaurus. As the Torosaurus reached adulthood, it would grow from having 3 short horns to 2 long ones. The teenage Torosaurus theory would explain why no fossils of Torosaurus young had ever been discovered, as well as why Triceratops remains are always found alongside acne cream. Okay, not really. _But I'mma keep the Tricera Zord, because, hey, fanfiction._

 _6:Some Dinosaurs Were Too Big To Move On Land_

It may not surprise you, but a lot o' dinosaurs were big. Really, really big. The biggest group of all were the sauropods, a family of dinosaurs that included the 50-ton Brachiosaurus and the 30-meter Diplodocus. These beasts were so big that their heft alone has created a myth:That they would have been too heavy to exist on land. The theory goes that these behemoth beasts had to live mostly submerged in lakes, unable to step onto the shore without being crushed by their own weight. In reality, living underwater would have been far more dangerous for these creatures. The depth they'd have to reach to be submerged would be under so much pressure that it would have caused their lungs to implode. Oh, plus there are footprints of 'em on land.

 _5:All Dinosaurs Existed In The Same Era_

Remember when you emptied out your toy box and made all your dinosaur toys fight to the death for your own sick, twisted amusement? Well, sadly that kinda battle royale could never have happened. The dinosaurs were around for a long time. They dominated the earth for over 150 million years—25 times longer than historians think humans have existed. That kinda longevity means that most species never saw each other. Dinosaurs existed in 3 distinct eras:the 20-million-year Triassic period, the 60-million-year Jurassic period, and the 80-million-year Cretaceous period. Triassic terrors like the Eoraptor and the Plateosaurus went extinct before Jurassic dinos like the Stegosaurus and the Allosaurus...which went extinct before Cretaceous creatures like the Tyrannosaurus and the Velociraptor. But if they did all fight, the Ankylosaurus would certainly win. I mean, look at that thing. _And I'mma bring ALL these ancient dinosaurs in the same era because, hey, Power Rangers. (Feat. an alien invasion which Earth cannot endure without borrowing the powers of these prehistoric reptiles)_

 _4\. Pterodactyls Were DINOSAURS_

Pterodactyls were many things. Excellent hunters that could pick out fish through water. Unbelievably fast flyers that could reach top speeds of 108 kilometers per hour. Huge flying monsters with a wingspan up to 12 meters. A significant chunk of the Zord assembly needed to save Earth from extraterrestrial threats(Kimberly's is a Pteranodon, to be precise). But one thing they weren't...was dinosaurs. Although often used to describe any creature that is super old, "dinosaur" only applies to a specific type of land-bound creature. And if the massive wings didn't tip you off, pterodactyls were NOT land-bound. Pterodactyls actually belonged to a separate genus of flying creatures called pterosaurs. The pterosaur family tree has its own wide variety of sub-species, including the Pteranodon, the Dimorphodon and the Quetzalcoatlus...a creature as large as a giraffe and apparently too big to actually fly. It was believed to be the biggest flying creature that ever existed...that is, 'till the Hatzegopteryx, which will be featured in the main story, was found in 2002. Anyways, pointing out that pterodactyls ain't dinosaurs ain't just nick-picking either. According to archaeologists, calling a pterodactyl a dinosaur is as inaccurate as calling a human a marsupial.

 _3\. Dinosaurs Were All Scaly_

The image of all dinosaurs as scaly, Godzilla-like reptiles is a much scarier one than the reality. While the dinosaurs were just as deadly as we think, many of 'em were covered in feathers, not scales. Birds are thought to be the closest living descendants of dinosaurs, and tiny holes in fossils where quills would have been attached confirm that at least 30 species of dinosaur were adorned with plumage. This includes many of the most iconic dinos, including the Oviraptor and the Velociraptor. Even the mighty T-Rex is now thought to have basically been a giant bird. In fact, of the animals still around today, scientists believe that the animal genetically closest to the Tyrannosaurus is the chicken. _But, hey, that's fine with me, this might explain the fact that I loved dinosaurs so much, I even ATE them!_ The good news is, that the reptilian appearance you've been imagining for decades ain't entirely wrong. Research into the subject from 2015 suggests that not all dinosaurs had feathers, most plant-eaters were the scaly creatures we all know and love.

 _2\. Dinosaurs Terrorized Early Mammals_

With building-sized lizard-monsters stomping around the place, it's easy to imagine early mammals as the constant victims. And for a while, that was what experts believed. But fossils discovered in China suggests that those rat-like teeny-weenies didn't just scurry from hide-out to hide-out praying for an asteroid. They could actually hunt dinosaurs. Discovered in 2005, the Repenomamus Giganticus was about the size of a spaniel, and its teeth and jaws suggest that it was a carnivore. While we're not saying your pug could take on a T-Rex, a dog-sized animal would have been big enough to hunt smaller dinosaurs like the Dilong or the Microraptor. In fact, the scientists who dug up the Repenomamus's remains found the skeleton of a baby Psittacosaurus in its stomach. Mammals could cause problems for bigger dinos too, like sneaking into their nests and feasting on their eggs.

 _1\. The T-Rex Can Only See You If You_ _Move_

We've already learned that the T-Rex is a lot stronger than we thought, but we're gonna make it a teeny-weeny bit more terrifying, No matter "whut" your Jurassic Park-loving friends tell you, the T-Rex's vision was not based on movement. In fact, the Tyrannosaurus had excellent eyesight, better than a modern-day hawk. An 1993 study by the University Of Oregon examined the eyes of known T-Rex descendants like the crocodile and the chicken, cross-referencing that with examinations of the T-Rex's skull shape. What they found was that the T-Rex's baseball-sized eyes were excellent, able to clearly see objects as far as 6 kilometers away. That's 13 times better than human eyesight, and even better than an eagle's—y'know, that creature is better than eagle-eyed.

* * *

 _Stop The Rex Hate!_

 **Well, before I begin, let's start with the fact that I gave the Zords names.**

 **T-Rex=Cynthia**  
 **Triceratops=Trixie**  
 **Saber Tiger=Eileen**  
 **Mammoth=Madison**  
 **Pteranodon=Darla**  
 **Dragon=Lola**

 **Now let's get to the section's main topic:As far as I'm concerned, the T-Rex had always been depicted as evil in most dinosaur media, with the only exception being the Jurassic Franchise's Rexy. She's made out of pure sheer awesomeness that totally befits a hero.**

 **And before that, there was Tatsuya Miyanishi's You Are Umasou, a collection of special stories about a specific T-Rex seeking redemption from his dark, twisted path. Maybe I am that T-Rex right now, considering my own twisted mindset. You Are Umasou is also the story I loosely based this fanfic on, considering the fact that Cynthia is really, really, really fond of berries** **—especially red ones, and somewhere in Archangel Grove(a cyberpunk version of Angel Grove) is an Egg Tower, which is a not-so-blatant ripoff of Egg Mountain.**

 **Well, before they got turned into Zords and got joined by several others later, Cynthia, Trixie and Darla were a team. Many dinosaurs thought this was strange and uncanny, considering that big, strong predators like the T-Rex usually hunted weaklings. But Trixie was no wimp, and so was Darla. So the three friends just roamed around here and there, singing, dancing and doing extreme challenges. Then the Power Rangers came along, and the three oddballs got power upgrades. They got bad-ass weapons, mighty battle cries, and the best part was:They didn't need to hunt or shuffle around for food anymore! It was the perk of being a Zord, although Cynthia still missed the berries. They even got to meet a new friend, Lola, and later on, two more, Eileen and Madison. Pretty soon, Cynthia, Trixie and Darla got along with their owners:Zordon of Eltar, Rykar of Sandor and Senna of Abriza. They thought it was gonna be a party from now on...that is, 'till Rita Repulsa of Lwiowl, Lola's owner, back-stabbed her fellow Rangers and then, along with her Zord, vanished without a trace. At the last moment, Cynthia wished on the Red String Of Fate that she, Trixie, and Darla could find new owners. She wished the same thing for Eileen and Madison too. And, true to her wish, Cynthia got a new owner, but the String also brought her fallen owner back. How will this affect the general Power Rangers storyline we all know and love?**

 **Anyway, fellas, you better stop the Rex hate. It makes me uncomfortable, and further, people will be greatly shocked if the decisive commander of the Zord army had been considered a bad guy beforehand.**


	2. Pilot

**Dinosaur Movies For Reference:  
The Land Before Time  
Planet Dinosaur, BBC  
Planet Of Dinosaurs  
You Are Umasou-The Movie Trilogy **

**Other than the dino movies listed above, there is also one more great movie that influenced this:James Cameron's Avatar. I imagined Eltar to be a bit like Pandora, only with technology and magic, and also as a world where humans(aliens), dinosaurs, pterodactyls, aquatic reptiles and prehistoric mammals(such as mammoths and saber tigers) all live in harmony. The Tyrannosaurus was the symbol of the Queen, who acted as the supreme ruler and high priestess of the planet.**

 **(By the time Zordon came to Earth as the Red Power Ranger, the Queen of Eltar was the renowned Aria The Great and the current Queen of Eltar is her descendant Linnse.)**

 **Since this version of Zordon is a bit different from the 2017 movie, I imagine him being portrayed by Tye Sheridan.**

 **The "Egg Tower", which served as the headquarters for the Ancient Rangers, is based on the Egg Mountain from the first You Are Umasou movie and the Pearl from the Dwayne Johnson movie, Skyscraper. Alpha 5 is one of the robotic attendants who served under the Rangers at the Egg Tower, and he's still there.**

* * *

Long ago, in a paradise known as the Great Valley, there were six great warriors, the Power Rangers who defended the Earth and the Zeo Crystal from the diabolical Lord Zedd and Ivan Ooze. Their names were...

 _Zordon of Eltar, the Red  
Rykar of Sandor, the Blue  
Senna of Abriza, the Pink  
Visru of Volvatu, the Black  
Torri Wild of Netera, the Yellow  
Rita Repulsa of Lwiowl, the Green _

The Egg Tower, the Rangers' headquarters, stood tall and proud next to a big lake in the Valley, and all the dinosaurs, even the long-necked sauropods, looked up to it. The Rangers, with the help of their respective Zords(three of them were oddball dinosaurs that didn't quite fit in, so they got turned into robots), guided the dinosaurs to the right way and taught them how to maintain the balance of Earth. Carnivores should stay in-character as the keepers of the Great Circle Of Life, and herbivores should not eat more than the right amount(which was different to each kind of herbivore, judging by the size), the way things were in Eltar. Any dinosaur that broke "Da Rulez" received punishment from the Rangers. One time, when an Albertosaurus went berserk and began a killing frenzy, Zordon bravely stood in his way and knocked him unconscious with a blow from his Red Ranger Sword. Later, when the creature came to, he sincerely apologized to the Rangers and the innocent souls he killed.

Thanks to the Rangers, peace finally settled in the Great Valley...that is, until the Green Ranger, Rita, back-stabbed her fellow Rangers and planned to take over the universe with the power of the Zeo Crystal. No-thanks to Rita, the Great Valley was in ruins and the horrified dinosaurs were running away in all directions. Zordon had lost all his comrades―even his love interest, Torri. He had no way other than to sacrifice himself as well, to save the Valley and stop Rita. So, Zordon said a tearful farewell to his dinosaur friends and used all his powers to summon thousands of deadly asteroids to Earth and perform a great meteor strike, killing himself, sending Rita far, far away and destroying all life on Earth.

It would take 65 million and a thousand years for the Great Valley to return to its former glory.

And when it did, it had a quite different name. Its newest inhabitants, the humans, called it Archangel Grove. Towering buildings were everywhere, though none could be taller than the Egg Tower. Robots wandered the streets with human companions, there were flying cars, people flying around with jet packs, and giant flashy screens everywhere on the city. It was an awesome futuristic cyberpunk town, and everybody loved it. Well, not everyone, since the Zords, five out of six, were still there, guarding the Egg Tower and the lake, hoping that they would soon find new owners. And Cynthia, the T-Rex Zord, one who used to be an outcast from the T-Rex society because of the fondness for berries which she carried around, was quite disappointed since there wasn't a tree in sight when she dared to wander farther from the area of the Zords, though she enjoyed the wonderful light explosions in the sky when the big day came around, the day which humans called "the 4th Of July".

Mind that or not, five new owners appeared to the Zords. Their names were...

 _Jason Lee Scott, the Red  
Billy Cranston, the Blue  
Kimberly Ann Hart, the Pink  
Zack Taylor, the Black  
Trini Kwan, the Yellow _

Meanwhile, Lola, the Dragon Zord, was sick and tired of her current owner and wished for a new owner, too. And this was what she got...

 _Tommy Oliver, the Green_

Soon, he, too, will join the other five to begin the battle for Earth. But this is not the main focus of our story, right?

It all began with the Red String Of Fate, which proved that it can connect two people that are decades apart of each other, and now it connects two people that are millions apart of each other.

These two people managed to overcome the barrier of time laid between them and, despite everything, they proved that love can overcome all differences, all flaws, all faults.

This is their story.

* * *

It was Prank Night at the town of Archangel Grove, and Jason Scott had put some _serious_ thought into what he ought to do: _Get a cow into the Montgomery High locker room and leave it there as a surpri_ _s_ _e for their 1st-period gym class tomorrow._ A little message from their cross-town rivals of Archangel Grove High, where Jason was about to start his 4th year of football and...well, pretty much football. It would be legendary. But the cow didn't seem to want to go into the locker room. It mooed loudly as Damo and Hawkeye, two of Jason's pals, braced themselves against its haunches.

"You know me," Damo was saying, "I never question your pranks, you're the master...But we could've just toilet-papered their sign like the seniors did last year. Why would we steal a cow?"

"We borrowed this cow." Jason corrected him. "We ain't no thieves."

"We just tore the door off da locker room." Hawkeye pointed out.

 _OK, maybe vandals. But not thieves._ Jason thought. "Hawkeye, stay here." he ordered. "Be the lookout. Damo, pull yourself together." He patted the cow's flank. "Beefcake, time to be a winner."

They got the cow into the locker room. It mooed in the darkness for some STRANGE reason, the absurdity of the whole situation cracked both Jason and Damo up. The cow kept mooing, and they kept laughing, then suddenly Hawkeye charged in. "COPS! THE COPS ARE COMING!"

All three of them ran for the exit.

"Beefcake, I'm really sorry!" Jason said to the cow as he and the other two ran for the exit. Eventually, Beefcake began to follow them. By the time Jason got to his (dad's) truck and jammed it into reverse, one of the cops had cut him off. The truck slammed hard into the cop car. _Uh-oh,_ Jason thought. Not cool. DEFINITELY not cool. The only way out was...well, onto the lawn. He gunned the truck over the curb and across the lawn, skidding around Beefcake. Jason rammed the truck through a fence, and the truck dropped hard down an embankment onto the road that cut behind Montgomery. The cops were still behind him. He made a sharp turn onto a side road and cut his headlights. In the rearview mirror, he saw the cops go screaming by. He lost them. Nice!

He flipped his headlights back on, hitting the gas again...and framed in the headlights he saw a plumbing van backing out of a driveway on front of him. Jason swerved around the van, but his (dad's) truck plowed into a parked car at an angle. It rolled over a couple of times and skidded to a halt. The impact stunned the boy for a moment, but pretty quickly he began to feel pain. A lot o' pain, mostly coming from his knee. Knocked down, he could tell it didn't look right. Something told him it was gonna be a while before he could set foot on the football field again. _It was only supposed to be a prank,_ he thought. _Man, how did it go so wrong?_

The last thing he saw before passing out was a glowing red string, one end wrapped neatly around his right wrist.

* * *

Three weeks later, Jason sat in the passenger's seat of his dad's truck. Sam Scott pulled up in front of Archangel Grove High School and shook his head at the sight of the house arrest ankle bracelet on Jason's left leg. "I don't think we'll ever understand each other." he said. "Just when I thought you'd done the craziest thing you could possibly do, you find something crazier and do it."

"Thank you." Jason replied.

"I promise you, this is not the moment to joke around.", his father said. Jason quieted down, and his father began speaking again, but he wasn't listening. All of his attention was on the strange glowing red string on his right wrist. _Could this be the Red String Of Fate?_ he thought. He recalled his parents telling him stories about how they met when he was about Pearl's age.

 _Back Then_

"The Red String Of Fate had brought us together." said Beverly Scott, his mom. "And so we got married, and settled down in Archangel Grove. That Okaia guy never again dared to come between us. The end."

"So, what happened to General Okaia?" asked a little Jason. "I suppose he'll be fuming with jealousy right now!"

Sam and Beverly just smiled.


	3. Malama Ka 'Aina

**Hawaiian Translation:  
Malama Ka 'Aina=Respect The Land **

* * *

_65 Million & A Thousand Years Ago _

Zordon wasn't sure if he really found true love.

As he watched a pair of Parasaurolophus lovingly nudge each other, he sighed. Even dinosaurs have their mates. On the day he first saw the Red String Of Fate wrapped neatly around his left wrist, he was also selected as the Red Power Ranger by the Galactic High Council and had left his home planet of Eltar to join the other five. He got along with them real fast, became best friends with Rykar, the Blue, and even fell in love with Torri, the Yellow. He was sure that she was his true love, but at the same time, doubted it 'cause there wasn't any string around either side of Torri's wrists, and the Red String Of Fate was still leading to someplace far, far away. And finally, the Rangers arrived at where they were charted to be, and, purely by coincidence, Earth was also the planet where the String was leading up to, but Zordon still couldn't figure out where _the one_ he was fated to be with could possibly be. Also, he could not leave Torri. Holy unanticipated occurrences!

And little did our Red Ranger know that it would take 65 million and a thousand years from now to find his destined one.

* * *

 _Now_

Jason Lee Scott always believed in the Red String Of Fate, without a doubt.

Not only did the String connect his parents, but it also connected his two heroes, Iron Man and Captain America. Well, at least that was what his late role model, the legendary Leyenar Oh, told him. Ever since her death in 21XX, people had been treating her like a goddess or something, and she had been Jason's hero for a long time. Last night, when he first saw the String around his right wrist, he was sure that _the one_ could be out there, somewhere. After all, he believed, and expected the same thing to happen to him, just like what happened to all the ships in the Leyenar Fleet, especially to Captain America and Iron Man. And, since the MARVEL universe was a vast multiverse, the String had been connecting them countless times. Here were all the versions of Captain America and Iron Man he remembered:

 _Avengers Mainstream Universe, Earth-616_

 _Natasha Stark Universe, Earth-3490 (seriously, why do they have to turn Tony into a girl?!)_

 _Avengers Assemble, Earth-12041_

 _Ultimate Universe, Earth-1610_

 _Insane Tony Stark Universe, Earth-415_

 _Next Avengers, Earth-555326_

 _Avengers Academy, Earth-TRN562_

 _Civil Union Universe, Earth-10208_

And, of course, how could he forget the most important one, crafted by his hero, from her very fingertips:

 _Leyenar Oh's MARVEL Universe, Earth-199999_

Steve Rogers and Tony Stark were decades apart of each other, yet the String still connects them.

And little did Jason know, he and his destined one were millions apart of each other.

* * *

Several parking spaces over, Kimberly Hart sat texting in the back of her father's car. Both of her parents were in the front seat. "This could've ended with far worse than Saturday detention." her father said.

"At least we can all agree on that." her mom added.

Kimberly looked up from her phone. "I didn't take that picture of Amanda Clark."

"You punched a boy in the face." her mother said.

"Yeah, I did that." Kimberly admitted. "But he disrespected me." She didn't want to tell them how. Well, she did, but she couldn't.

"You knocked out his tooth." her father said. He was using his this-is-serious-young-lady voice.

"They put it back." Kimberly said. She could see her dad starting to get more upsetti and she cut him off before he could get going. "Nobody understands what actually happened!"

"Then explain to us." her mother said. She wanted to. God, she wanted to. It wasn't fair. But no, she couldn't. No matter how bad things got, Kimberly didn't want to be a snitch.

"Pick me up later." she said, and got out of the car.

* * *

Jason walked slowly down the hall toward the detention room, favoring his injured leg. The brace helped a lot, but it was still weak and sore. _One of Director Leyenar's movies had a special prison which everybody called the Detention Room,_ he thought, however, he couldn't exactly remember which movie it was. He stopped to get a drink, looked up, and saw his own framed jersey:Scott 11. A reminder of what he'd lost by being stupid. He turned away from it and saw Kimberly Hart, one of Archangel Grove's queen bees. Not the kind of one who just wanted to be on the arm of the football star, either. Self-possessed, beautiful, a force of nature. She blew by him, intent on her phone. Girls like Kimberly Hart didn't have time for him. Somebody mooed when he walked into the detention room. Everybody laughed. Jason shook it off, ignoring the scorn from all the misfit losers who populated Saturday detention. Except for Kimberly Hart, who was in the back of the room, texting away. Closer to Jason, Billy Cranston was arranging his colored pencils and making some kinda marks on a map. Strange kid, Billy. Another kid whose name Jason didn't know swaggered past Billy and knocked the pencils off his desk.

"You're a freak." he said, leaning over Billy. "We've been watching you play with these pencils every week. It drives me crazy. Are you crazy? What if there was an extra one?" He held up one of the pencils and snapped it in half. Billy twitched but tried to pull himself together. The bully held up another pencils and was about to snap it in half when Jason had enough.

In 2 steps, he was in the kid's face. The class got dead quiet. "How old are you, five?" Jason shoved him away. "Hi, I'm Jason, this is my first time here. And you must be the bully, the bully of detention? How dumb can you be?" The bully took a swing at Jason, but he saw it coming a mile away. He flicked the punch away with a simple high block, making it look easier than it was. Another swing, another block. Neither punch came within a foot of landing. The bully hesitated. He had to keep fighting or unless, he would look like an idiot. Jason solved the problem for him, by slapping him square in the face. Stunned, the bully said "Did you just slap me?"

Jason nodded. "I did. Weird, right?" He stepped up to the kid, making sure everybody in the room knew what the hell was going on here. "I'mma be here every week for what seems like the rest o' my life and I'm sure you are, too. Let's make a deal." He tapped his own chest and then pointed at the terrified geek with his pencils. "Don't you dare sit near me or him, and we'll be OK." Trying to save face, the defeated—or, as Leyenar would say, de- _feeted_?—bully held Jason's stare for a moment before taking a seat in the back corner. Billy Cranston was grinning. Some o' the other kids seemed to have enjoyed the show, too—including, Jason noticed, Kimberly Hart.

The detention teacher rolled through the door then, trying to assert order. "OK, so, approved homework or work on the _Better Choices_ notebook. These should be out and in progress. And good morning."

Kimberly looked at something interesting on her phone, then stood. "I have to go to the ladies' room." The teacher lifted a hand, but Kimberly ignored him just like she'd ignored Jason. She went into the bathroom expecting to see her friends Harper and Amanda, who had been texting her, but the bathroom was silent. Kim was already on an emotional knife-edge. Her problems with Harper and Amanda kept her up at night, and now she thought it might all be taken care of...maybe? She didn't really know where she stood. And she wasn't gonna find out in an empty bathroom. Then the two girls popped out of one of the stalls, laughing. Kimberly joined in. Like her, Amanda and Harper were queen bees. They liked to dress alike, they exchanged tips on hairstyles and social currents at Archangel Grove, and they were the heart of the cheerleading squad. It was their school, really, and they were too busy being popular and social to focus on Leyenar stuff. In fact, they had no respect for the legendary director at all, they considered her a disgrace to the feminine society.

"So this is where you come every Saturday instead of practice?" Amanda needled Kimberly. "Tragic."

"This must suck." Harper added. She spent a lot of time echoing what Amanda said.

"It does." Kimberly admitted. She was playing along to ease the tension, still not completely sure how this conversation was going to go.

Amanda smirked. "Then you shouldn't have sent Ty that picture of me."

"That's not exactly how it happened." Kimberly said. "He's a liar." Amanda knew this. Why did Kimberly keep having to explain it?

"You punched his tooth out." Harper said.

God, it was annoying to keep hearing about that. "They put it back!"

"Details, details." Amanda said. "Truth is, for whatever reason, you went after me."

"You know there's way more to the story." Kimberly said.

Abruptly, Amanda's tone changed. "Water under the bridge now. Let's move on."

Kimberly couldn't believe her ears. "Really? Thank God." Relief crested in her like a wave, a physical feeling in her chest.

"We're movin' on...without you."

The wave crashed down, and Kimberly had the awful empty feeling in her stomach that came when somebody made a fool out of you. "Cutting you out." Harper added. "Literally." She showed Kimberly a picture of all three girls at a party, looking happy and cool together. In Harper's other hand was a pair of scissors. She cut Kimberly out of the picture.

"Unfriended, unfollowed, don't text me." Amanda said.

"You can show up for cheer practice if you want." Harper said. "But I won't." She pinned the mutilated photo to the bathroom wall with the scissors, and the two girls left without looking back. Kimberly took a long look at the picture, and at her reflection next to it in the big bathroom mirror. Suddenly she hated what she saw, hated the way she'd let herself think that being part of that little clique was so important that she would...No, she wasn't gonna think about that. She was cut out? _Okay, fine,_ she thought. _Then it's time for some changes._ She pulled the scissors out of the wall and ran her finger along one of the blades. They were nice and sharp. She pulled a fistful of her hair away from her head and cut it off. Then she cut a big hunk out of the other side. Oh, it felt good. She didn't have to be the same as them. She didn't have to worry about what anybody thought anymore. Kimberly's hair fell into the sink and onto the floor and she didn't care. She was gonna be somebody new. Hell, she was already looking forward to the next Leyenar Oh film festival on TV.

* * *

Jason did a double take when Kimberly came back into the detention room. The haircut was one thing, but the expression on her face—tough, daring, strong—made her look like she could be fronting a punk band. The room erupted in yells and whistles. Kimberly looked around, soaking it all up. Jason couldn't take his eyes off her. Man, he'd liked her before, but now...he liked her a lot. A whole lot. This new Kimberly distracted Jason for the rest of detention, and he was still watching her as they walked back outside. Her parents picked her up and freaked out at her haircut. Jason glanced at the Red String Of Fate on his right wrist, and looked at Kim's arms. He couldn't find any string on either side of her wrists, and it was painful, because he believed in the String and it told him that Kimberly Ann Hart wasn't his destined one. He didn't even notice the pencil-collecting nerd next to him until he spoke. "Thank you for that in there."

Jason barely glanced at him, still fussing over the Red String Of Fate. "No worries, I hate guys like that."

"Yeah, for sure. So we should hang out. Not that we have to, but tonight we should."

Jason wrestled with the nerd's name for a bit. Ah. Billy Cranston. "Billy, I would, honestly, hang out with you, but I have a date every night." Jason lifted his pant leg to show the ankle bracelet. Billy nodded, understanding.

Then Jason started walking off, and Billy called after him. "Wait! Just wait. Come back." Jason turned and took a step back. "I'm not really expecting to hang out with you. I'd like to get somewhere tonight and I need some help. It's important."

"Okay, Billy." Jason said. "I hear you, relax. But as I told you, I have..." He lifted his pant leg again.

"I can fix that." Billy said. "I know how to trick the SIM card. I have tools."

 _Well,_ Jason thought, _that's interesting._ "i have to be in my house before seven."

"If you can come to my house tonight before seven, I can fix it." Billy saw that Jason wasn't convinced. "I also have a car...well, access to a car...so if you decide to help me, you can have the car for a few hours. Just gotta pick me up." Billy said. He started to walk away. "Come anytime before seven."

 _Access to a car..._ Jason thought. _That might even be worth dealing with Billy Cranston's weirdness._

* * *

 **The Rangers' opinions on myself:**

 **Jason:Legendary hero, mighty lord of the universe, giver and director of fate, defender of the defenseless, the greatest Avenger to ever exist  
Billy:Nerd representative, nerd of nerds, the most bad-ass nerd ever  
** **Kim:Disgrace(** **formerly), feminist icon(later** **on)  
Trini:Somebody to look up to  
** **Zack:Just** **a much-respected historical figure  
Tommy:Evil overlord, duh!**


	4. Nalowale

**Hawaiian Translation:  
Nalowale=Forgotten/Missing **

**As I Can tell, this story is loosely based on the movie "Your Name" and the comet of the matter is named after Lagann of Gurren Lagann, while 27, its time period, is the episode tally of Gurren Lagann. (The asteroids Zordon summoned to stop Rita 65 million and a thousand years ago were fragments of the Comet Lagann.)**

* * *

 _65 Million & A Thousand Years Ago _

When Cynthia was young, her abusive pack decided to give her away to a lone ferocious hunter, named Mauler. She didn't want to go, but her pack were adamant, calling her a nuisance. Now that she was a Zord, Cynthia didn't have to worry about that god damned engagement anymore, plus her owner, Zordon, the Red Ranger, was valiant and kind, nothing like her previous pack. He was always there when she needed her, and she really wanted him to be happy. It wasn't long after she found out that Zordon had a problem:He was in love with Torri, the Yellow Ranger, but the Red String Of Fate won't let him be happy with her. Cynthia had no idea what the String was up to back then, she was still ignorant.

When Cynthia met Mauler again, it had been 3 months since the day she got turned into a Zord.

At first, he didn't recognize her, and that was when Cynthia found out her ex-mate-to-be had been keeping a male Ankylosaurus as a sex slave, and she got furious. She remembered what Zordon used to tell her: _This malfeasance must be stopped!_

And so, Cynthia delivered an energy blast to Mauler's private parts, disabling him forever. "W...Why?" he asked.

"Punishment." she said smugly.

* * *

 _Now_

Since he was a small child, Jason had heard the story of how his parents met, and it was already more than enough. But how it happened, if y'wanna know, he was always glad to reiterate the entire story.

Once upon a time, there lived a young lady named Beverly, who grew up under a loving, rich family that interacted a lot with aliens. The only problem was, her parents had her betrothed to an alien general named Okaia, and the engagement would commence, no matter WHAT happens. However, Beverly was in love with a young man named Sam Scott, who the Red String Of Fate brought to her. The moment they first laid eyes on each other, they knew they were meant to be. When the news of Beverly and Sam reached the ears of Beverly's parents, they were furious and decided to marry Beverly off to Okaia as soon as possible. Beverly enclosed herself in her room, and cried for hours until the String sent a message to Sam, to come and rescue her. And so, he did. He crashed Beverly and Okaia's wedding, with a space gun from his hometown of Archangel Grove. Sam and Beverly were eager to jump into each other's arms right away, and together they galloped to Archangel Grove—like the wind! Okaia was mad with jealousy, but he somehow knew that Sam and Beverly were connected by the Red String Of Fate, so he couldn't help but stare. Years went by, Sam and Beverly eventually got married, and they had two children—Jason Lee Scott and Pearl Scott.

But the primary reason Jason decided to believe in the String wasn't his parents. It was _her._

The way the the legendary Leyenar Oh worked her magic on her Fleet, it was still a mystery to Jason. Every time he watched the Leyenar Oh film festival on TV, he couldn't help but be amazed. No matter what, how far apart the two individuals were, they were always joined together in the end, and how it happened, it was always deeply entwined with the Red String Of Fate. Not only it connected two ordinary lovers, two men, two women or two star-crossed lovers, it connected a human to an alien, a man to his dinosaur, a woman to her Jaeger, a girl to another Jaeger, some people to their respective sentient robot companions, a mortal to a god, even beyond death, beyond different universes, and Leyenar never gave a damn about their sexual preferences. Her ever-expanding mindset made the Red String Of Fate connect more and more pairs, some of them were canon, some of them were not. The only pairings that were able to escape Leyenar's Red Net Of Fate were the pairings in the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann fandom, and Jason still couldn't believe this was happening to him. He couldn't possibly imagine he would become the String's next victim, yet it happened. And one thing was for sure:Whoever the String was leading up to, it definitely wasn't Kim.

Leyenar was the only person who found out the secret of the String and also the only one who could harness the String for her own needs, and since she was already dead, Jason couldn't possibly ask her. When he arrived at home, the first place he was headed to was the Fallen Avenger Shrine, dedicated to Leyenar Josephine Electrana Oh herself, her movies, her books and the Leyenar Fleet. If he and Kim ever got married, he would name their child after the director, if it was a girl. Hell, Jason even kept a notebook to write to Leyenar! All of these stories were written in Diamine Shimmering Fountain Pen Ink—Firestorm Red, since red was the deceased legend's favorite color along with gold and shimmering ink was the best courtesy he could offer to her. And so, he wrote.

 _Dear Director Leyenar,_

 _I made a great friend, and his name's Billy Cranston._

 _He's gonna help me deal with that...thing on my leg, and I really hope we can become good friends, just like you and your best friend Morgan._

 _Me and Billy may not have met online and chatted about things_ _like you and Morgan_ _, but he's still nice to me._

 _Also...there's this...thing with the Red String Of Fate, it's aiming at the Egg Tower, which means my destined one could possibly be_ there.

 _Yeah, I believe, but I did tell you about my crush on Kimberly Hart._

 _What should I do? Gee, I do hope you wrote a book about getting rid of crushes before you died._

 _No, the REAL thing I wanna get rid of is the Red String Of Fate, it's the only thing between me and Kim._

 _I'm sorry for telling you this, but doesn't mean I don't believe in the String, the whole thing's because I believe in it._

 _If I ever get to find_ the one _at the Egg Tower, that means I have to ditch Kim, and I can't live without her._

 _Peace out, J.L.S_

 _P.S:The Comet Lagann is coming back to Earth after a long wait of 27 years, that thing named after one of the two robots that comprise your favorite robot._

* * *

It was a fine day to go train surfing, and Zack Taylor wasn't going to miss his chance. He hopped the freight train before it picked up too much speed and climbed up onto the roof of a boxcar. Snowboarding goggles covered most of his face, and he kept his hoodie pulled down tight, too. Once he was up on the train, he held out a selfie stick and turned a complete circle. "Greetings, followers!" he said, shouting over the noise of the train and the wind. "I'm coppin' a free ride on the rails today! If ya dig it, subscribe to my channel. Click on the link below. Today's quote comes from Confucius. He was an ol' Chinese dude who knew too much. He said, our greatest glory is not on never falling, but in rising every time we fall..." He threw a peace sign at the camera, closed the selfie stick, and put it in his backpack. Then he took out his phone—but dropped it. It slid along the top of the car as Zack fumbled after it. Just as it came to a stop and he was about to get it, it buzzed with an incoming text message and bounced off the train!

Zack lunged after it, barely hanging on—and then the train hooked a tight turn, and he went over the side. He caught a ladder with one hand, still holding his phone with the other. Who was the message from? He swiped to see. Then he grinned, raised the camera to take a selfie...

And saw a telephone pole heading towards him as the train roared along the tracks at 60 miles an hour. Whoa!

Zack jack-knifed back up onto the top of the train, ruining the selfie but missing the telephone pole by inches. When he landed on the roof of the boxcar again, he was smiling. This was going to be a great day.

He was almost to the old mine site where the train would slow down enough for him to hop off. Maybe the weird girl would be out there again today.


	5. Ma'ema'e

**Hawaiian Translation:  
Ma'ema'e=Clean **

**And here, my dudes, is where the musical numbers come in.**

* * *

When he got home from detention, Jason dug around in the fridge for leftovers. Pulling out a half-eaten sandwich, he sniffed it for freshness. Shutting the door, he saw a picture of himself. A newspaper clipping, with the headline "Archangel Grove's Golden Boy". His dad walked into the kitchen and, without saying a word, started to wash his hands. The awkward silence built 'till Jason couldn't take it anymore. He stormed out of the kitchen and headed to the safety of his bedroom. He flopped down onto his bed, trying very hard to control his anger. His dad never understood him. All Sam Scott wanted was his football star. It was like Jason didn't exist unless he was on the field.

Coming from the kitchen, Jason could hear his parents' muffled voices, fighting over him again. "Don't be so hard on him!" his mom said. "How do you think he feels walking around town now?"

"Well, how I feel walking around town now?" his dad replied. "What's the plan, huh? What's he gonna do with his life? He could've been so much more."

Jason couldn't listen to this conversation again. He stood up, and pulled a rope that had been hanging from the ceiling. Immediately, the room was shrouded in a lovely orange glow, white banners dropped from the ceiling—each one of them bearing beautiful illustrations of certain ships in the Leyenar Fleet, and a screen door opened, revealing the Fallen Avenger Shrine. In the center of the shrine was a large, framed photo of Leyenar wearing her digger coat, an identical twin to what Gurren Lagann's Simon The Digger wore as Captain Garlock, surrounded by Blu-Ray DVDs of the legendary director's movies, books written by her, and Avengers stuff. He opened his notebook to write to his hero, but then, he suddenly remembered he had to get out of here. The clock in his room read 6:22 PM. But how? He was no longer given access to his dad's truck. And he wasn't going to be walking anywhere. He needed wheels.

 _Billy Cranston had wheels._

 _Weird situation,_ Jason thought. He'd never spoken to Billy before that day. Now Billy was offering him freedom from the bracelet, and a car...in return for what?

Only one way to find out.

3 minutes later, he was in the garage pumping up the back tire of his old bike. One minute later, he was pedaling hard on the way to Billy Cranston's house, trying to ignore the ache in his knee. He was going to be free again if it killed him.

* * *

 _One Little Slip-Barenaked Ladies_

 _It was a recipe for disaster,_

 _A four-course meal of no sirree,_

 _It seemed that happily ever after,_

 _Was happy everyone was after me._

 _It was a cup of good intentions,_

 _A tablespoon of one big mess,_

 _A dash of overreaction,_

 _I assume you know the rest._

 _One little slip,_

 _One little slip,_

 _It was a fusion of confusion,_

 _With a few confounding things._

 _I guess I probably took the wrong direction,_

 _Well, I admit I might have missed a sign or two,_

 _I ran a light past your affection, at Humiliation Avenue._

 _I took a right turn at confusion,_

 _A left, when I should have gone straight on through,_

 _I ran ahead with my assumptions,_

 _And we all know what that can do._

 _One little slip,_

 _One little slip,_

 _It was a fusion of confusion,_

 _And a few confounding things._

 _I get the feeling in this town,_

 _I'll never live 'till I live down,_

 _The one mistake that seems to,_

 _Follow me around._

 _But they'll forget about the sky,_

 _When they all realize this guy's,_

 _About to try to learn to fly,_

 _Or hit the ground._

 _It was a cup of good intentions,_

 _A tablespoon of one big mess,_

 _A dash of overreaction,_

 _I assume you know the rest._

 _One little slip,_

 _One little slip,_

 _It was a humble little stumble,_

 _With a big ungraceful..._

 _One little slip,_

 _One little slip,_

 _It was a fusion of confusion,_

 _With a few confounding things._

Jason made it all the way across town to Billy Cranston's house in 25 minutes flat. Pretty good, considering his knee was killing him the whole way. Billy's mom opened the door and freaked out. "Oh...my...GAWD! Jason Scott!" She turned to yell up the stairs. "Billy! Jason Scott is here!"

Over her shoulder, Jason saw a clock with a cat face. It was nearly 7:00 PM. "Billy's room upstairs?" he asked. When Mrs. Cranston nodded, he limped up the stairs as fast as he could and barged through the nearest closed door. Sure enough, it was Billy's room. Jason slammed the door and pulled up his pant leg. If it was still flashing at 7:00 PM, Jason would be in really, really, really big trouble. "Dude." he said.

"6:56." Billy said.

"I know. 4 minutes to go. Grab that chair!" Jason slid a chair over to a table where Billy was rooting around in a heap of weird electronics and stuff. He dug a tube of wire mesh, closed at one end, out of the junk in the closet.

"Here! Put your foot in this."

"What is it?"

"A Faraday cage. Sort of. It's gonna block the cell signal, I hope..."

Jason put his foot in as the bracelet started beeping. "That's the 3-minute warning." he said.

Billy was distracted. "My dad's dead now. He's been dead 7 years, 4 months, and 2 days."

"Uh-huh." The beeping was faster now. "Billy, it's almost—"

Billy pried the SIM card out of the ankle bracelet. "He worked at the mine. We found objects together. It was awesome." He slotted the SIM card into his computer and tapped away. "You still live at 44-55 Old Wharf? My dad and I both loved old stuff, history, do you watch..."

"Dude, the signal's gonna go off!" Jason said, nearly shouting. Billy slipped the SIM card back into the bracelet and pulled away the mesh. The red light turned green. The beeping stopped. Jason realized he'd been holding his breath. "Yes?"

Billy nodded. "Yes!"

Jason couldn't help it. He gave weird Billy Cranston a big hug and said "Thank you." Billy tensed up and wouldn't look him in the eye. Then, Jason caught a glimpse of something on Billy's desk, and asked "Hey, is that Leyenar?"

"You know her?" said Billy, surprised.

"Yeah, indeed." said Jason. "She's a big deal. A MEGA deal. She proved that anyone can be anything, and I someday hope to visit the Avengers Hall at New York."

"Me too!" squealed Billy. "She's the one that gave us nerds hope, that's why I always have a picture of her on my desk."

"A picture?" Jason retaliated. "I have an entire shrine!" The boys laughed, and later, Jason nodded to Billy's mom on his way back out the door. In the driveway were a sporty little car and a boring minivan. Jason waited next to the sports coupe. He could already hear its engine rumbling to life, feel the way its suspension would stiffen up on tight curves...Jason loved to drive, and this was the kind of car that made driving fun.

But when Billy came outside, he said "We're taking the van." Before Jason could protest, Billy pointed to a footlocker near the garage door. "Can you help me?" They got the footlocker into the van, and Billy handed Jason the keys. "You can drive."

 _At least I've got that going for me,_ Jason thought.

Billy smiled and tapped a seashell hanging from the rearview mirror. "Gotta swing the shell. Always gotta swing the shell for luck. Let's roll."

 _Real Gone-Sheryl Crow_

 _I'm American made, Bud Light, Chevrolet,_

 _My momma taught me wrong from right,_

 _I was born in the south,_

 _Sometimes I have a big mouth,_

 _When I see something that I don't like,_

 _I gotta say it..._

 _We been driving this road,_

 _For a mightly long time,_

 _Payin' no mind to the signs,_

 _Well this neighborhood's changed,_

 _It's all been rearranged,_

 _We left that change somewhere behind,_

 _Slow down, you're gonna crash,_

 _Baby, you were screamin',_

 _It's a blast, blast, blast,_

 _Look out babe, you got your blinders on,_

 _Everybody's lookin' for a way,_

 _To get real gone, real gone._

 _Real Gone._

 _There's a new cat in town,_

 _He's got high paid friends,_

 _Thinks he's gonna change history,_

 _You think you know him so well,_

 _Yeah, you think he's so swell,_

 _But he's just perpetuatin' prophecy,_

 _Come on now,_

 _Slow down, you're gonna crash,_

 _Baby, you were screamin',_

 _It's a blast, blast, blast,_

 _Look out, you got your blinders on,_

 _Everybody's lookin' for a way,_

 _To get real gone,_

 _Real gone,_

 _Real gone,_

 _Real gone._

 _Well, you can say what you want,_

 _But you can't say it 'round here,_

 _'Cause they'll catch you and give you a whippin',_

 _Well I believe I was right,_

 _When I said you were wrong,_

 _You didn't like the sound of that,_

 _Now did ya?_

 _Slow down, you're gonna crash,_

 _Baby, you were screamin',_

 _It's a blast, blast, blast,_

 _Look out, you got your blinders on,_

 _Everybody's lookin' for a way,_

 _To get real gone._

 _Well here I come, And I'm so not scared,_

 _Got my pedal to the metal,_

 _Got my hands in the air,_

 _Well look out, you take your blinders off,_

 _Everybody's lookin' for a way,_

 _To get real gone, real gone,_

 _Real Gone,_

 _Real Gone,_

 _Real Gone._

* * *

20 minutes later, they were easing the minivan over a railroad crossing. A sign at the crossing said "Cascadia Gold Mine—Authorized Vehicles Only". "Keep driving." Billy said. The sun was going down when they got to the end of an abandoned road, high in the hills. Billy jumped out and pulled a map from his pocket. "This is it. Me and my dad's secret spot to find stuff. We're going around back. I'mma need your help."

Jason was nervous. They could get in trouble out here, and if anybody found out about the bracelet..."Listen, man, the deal was I drop you somewhere and I get the van for a few hours. You didn't say we were breaking into the mine. I can't get arrested again."

Billy didn't look up from the map. "You stole a cow and evaded police."

"I borrowed that cow." Jason corrected him. "It was unharmed."

Billy had seen something on the map. "Grab the locker." he said.


	6. Lagann

They had hauled the footlocker along the side of the mountain as the sun set,. Then they paused to look out over the huge quarry near the older mine shafts that cut deep into the mountain. "They're gonna blow this whole thing, y'know?" Billy said. "It'll be gone in a week. Makes me sad."

"Billy." Jason said. "Can I be honest? This is weird. We don't know each other at all, I don't know what we're doing, and you seem kinda—"

"I need to let you know something." Billy said. "I'm on the spectrum."

 _No kidding,_ Jason thought. He didn't want Billy to be nervous, so he tried to lighten things up. "Is that a workout program? Like Tae Bo?"

"It's a diagnosis." Billy said seriously.

So much for lightening things up. "I know. It was a joke. I was kidding."

"I didn't get the joke." Billy said. He was very earnest. "That's the thing. My brain doesn't work the same way yours does."

"Consider that a good thing." Jason said.

"See, I'm not so good at sarcasm, or humor—but I can remember things. Anything. Everything. But I communicate strangely and..."

"Billy, lemme stop you." Jason said. The conversation was weirding him out, and he could tell Billy was talking about it because he felt like he had to. But he didn't have to. Jason didn't care. "We're cool."

"People get frustrated with me." Billy said. "Don't get frustrated with me. If you get frustrated with me, let me know. Just say..."

"You're frustrating me?" Jason said.

That brought Billy up short. "I am right now?"

"No, I was finishing your sentence." Jason said. He reminded himself to be calm and literal—two things that weren't always easy for Jason Lee Scott. "If you frustrate me, I'll let you know. We're cool."

"We're cool?"

"Yes. Let's not have a frustrating conversation about frustration. After all, Director Leyenar would want us to be totally upbeat."

Billy nodded. He squatted in front of the footlocker and got out a flashlight. "It's gonna be dark when you come back." he said, holding it towards Jason. "We can find each other—"

"Bye, Billy." Jason said, cutting him off. He was looking forward to see Lagann back in town. After all, tonight was the night of its return.

Billy just looked up, replied "OK!" and went back to work."

* * *

 _Vibes-Tove Lo_

 _Hhmm..._

 _Skin to skin,_

 _Seepin' in,_

 _Flickering, our eyes go wide,_

 _You giving me studded sight,_

 _Painting stars,_

 _In our hearts,_

 _Yeah, you know I'm down for you._

 _I want you to lick my wounds,_

 _What's you line though?_

 _That I'm fine, oh,_

 _Heard that before,_

 _But somehow it means more,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs,_

 _These vibes, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs._

 _Feelin' all the vibes, oh oh,_

 _Whisper pretty little things,_

 _Heart sings, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, tripping on your highs,_

 _Feelin' all the vibes, (oh oh)_

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

 _Break away,_

 _All the things stopping me from letting go,_

 _Temperature is taking hold, (oh!)_

 _Heart beating faster and faster,_

 _I'll be your (you'll be my) brand new disaster,_

 _But I don't know,_

 _Seems like what you're looking for,_

 _What's you type, though?_

 _Am I right? No,_

 _Heard that before,_

 _But still you want it more,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs,_

 _These vibes, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs,_

 _Feelin' all the vibes, ooh,_

 _Whisper pretty little things,_

 _Heart sings, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, tripping on your highs,_

 _Feelin' all the vibes,_

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya? (Oh)_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

 _Oh..._

 _What's your type, though?_

 _Am I right? No_

 _Heard that before,_

 _But still you want it more,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs,_

 _These vibes, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, trippin' on your highs,_

 _Feelin' all the vibes, ooh,_

 _Whisper pretty little things,_

 _Heart sings, I feel 'em, ooh,_

 _Dreamer, tripping on your highs,_

 _Feelin' all the vibes,_

 _Tell me..._

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

 _Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?_

 _Do you feel 'em too?_

 _I feel ya, feel ya, feel ya,_

 _Feeling so high, falling into you._

Jason had just gotten to the van when he heard some music in the distance. Who else could be out here? He went to find out and got a big surprise. Kimberly Hart stood on a stone ledge off the trail, just stepping out of her jeans. _Whoa,_ Jason thought. Before he could figure out what she was doing, she dove backward off the ledge. The spring was a good distance below. Jason heard the splash before he got to the ledge, and he looked again at the Red String Of Fate on his wrist. It was still aiming at the approximate direction of the Egg Tower. "Hey!" he shouted. She didn't come up. "Kim! Kimberly!" His voice echoed off the rocks. She still didn't come after him. He had to do something. Jason kicked off his shoes and looked for a good place to dive in after her. Then he heard her say,

"Strange to hear you say my name."

He spun around to see her climbing up onto the ledge from another direction. When she got all the way up, she wrapped herself up in a towel. "What?" Jason said. It was turning out to be a very weird day.

"I said, it was strange to hear you say my name. Like we know each other."

"We know each other." Jason said.

"We know who each other are." She corrected him. "But we don't know each other."

"I know you used to date Ty Fleming."

"Then you know I punched his tooth out."

Jason grinned at her. "I know they put it back." She tried not to return his smile. They headed back through the trees together toward the minivan. Jason had decided he wouldn't take off on Billy. Especially not if Kimberly was out here.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked as they walked. "Did you follow me?"

"I came with Billy."

"Cranston? Weird. But I've seen him here before. My house is on the other side of the mountain. I hike these trails sometimes. Clear my head." They reached an overlook where they could see all the way to the horizon. "And I stare down at Archangel Grove and wonder how such an awesome town can cause me such misery."

Jason couldn't help it. He laughed.

"That's funny?" Kimberly had a dangerous look in her eyes.

"I feel the same way." Jason said.

"Yeah." she said. "Jason Lee Scott, star quarterback, crashes and burns. Destroys his career and our season. Go, Tigers!"

Jason decided to believe she was on his side. "Now I walk around town and everybody is looking at me like I ran over their dog."

"I could leave here." Kimberly mused. "You know? Just go."

Now they were very close. "So let's go." Jason said.

"What?" She took a step back. "You'd never do it."

"Try me."

"You and me? You got a car?"

"I have a van." Jason said. _Well, access to a van,_ he thought.

"Seriously? A van? Be creepier."

"It's not that kinda van."

She rolled her eyes. "Every van is that kinda van."

"Let's go." Jason said. He nodded back the trail, where the minivan was parked,

"Are you daring me? Because I'll go." They stared at each other for a long moment, feeling something start to crackle between them. "This isn't...I don't know what you're thinking." she added. Kimberly had never expected Jason Scott to be charming. Sometimes people were full of surprises. She was just starting to crack a smile when something bright exploded across the sky, sailing away like a missile.

 _Lagann._

The comet named after one of two robots that made up Leyenar Oh's favorite robot.

It finally showed up.

And Jason realized that the Red String Of Fate was still aiming at the Egg Tower.

* * *

Zack was sitting on an abandoned boxcar chowing down on a pizza and looking through binoculars at one of the other kids who came out to the Cascadia property to hide out from the world. He'd seen her around school but he didn't know her name. Lots of black, hard stares. Tough girl. She was doing some kinda yoga thing on the edge of a cliff, her truck parked close behind. Suddenly, he saw Lagann up in the sky and then heard something explode over near the mine. He swung his binoculars around and spotted the source. Then he took off running.

 _MEANWHILE..._

Billy staggered to his feet just as Jason came running up, with Kimberly Hart. What was she doing here? He hadn't meant the explosion to be that big. He'd made the battery-powered detonator himself and counted the steps back down the old mine passage. It should have been far enough. But when he touched the wires to the battery terminals, the explosion was, wow, a lot bigger than he had expected. "Oh, man!" he shouted. "That really rung my bell! Wow!"

Jason was glad to see Billy was OK. Another kid came running from down the road and grabbed Billy by the jacket. "Whaddaya doin', dude?!"

"I've been diggin' up here for many years!" Billy yelled.

Jason got the other kid's hands up Billy's coat. His name was Zack, wasn't it? Jason was pretty sure that was it. "Easy, guy." he said. "Let's sort this out."

Zack shoved him away. "I've seen him up here before, diggin' around, whutever. Some of us camp out up here on the down low, and this dude can't be blastin' stuff!"

"I just wanted to go a little deeper!" Billy yelled. "Maybe I went too deep!"

Jason got his attention. "Billy, you don't have to yell. We can hear you, OK?"

"OK!" Billy yelled.

"Hey!" Somebody else was yelling now, too. A girl none of them know appeared from the same direction Zack had come from. "You guys lookin' forward to get busted?! This is a restricted area!"

"Really, Einstein? Restricted?" Zack shot back. "As in, we shouldn't be standing on crazy rocks doing Karate Kid moves?" He did a mocking version of the crane pose from the movie. "I see you."

Billy had already moved away; he'd become distracted by something else. "Um, guys..." he said, quieter now.

"Or campin' out with an old train?" the girl said, jousting with Zack. "I see you, too, homeboy." Jason looked back and forth between the two of them. He was starting to realize there were a lot o' people at Archangel Grove High that he didn't know.

Then suddenly, "Oh, no." Billy said from behind them. A moment later, the whole rock face on that side of the hill collapsed, knocking them all over and covering them with dust. They got to their feet, unharmed but coughing and sneezing. "Whoa." Billy said. All of them saw it at once. The collapse had exposed a wall of black obsidian, like glass. It was cracked in spots, maybe from the explosion Billy had set off. And inside, there were...some kinda round objects...

"I've never seen glass like this before." Billy said. Zack grabbed an old pickax and stepped toward the glass wall. The others tried to stop him, hut he wouldn't listen. He struck that glass wall as hard as he could. One of the round things fell out at Billy's feet. Zack smashed away and the rest of them fell out. "It's like a stone...or a coin...or something." Billy said as he picked it up. They all gathered to take a look. Jason thought they did look like coins. The one in Billy's hand was flickering with a deep blue light. Were they battery-powered? How had they gotten into the rocks? Man, they were cool. He looked more closely at the one Billy held. A rocky crust covered part of it, Through that, light and colors swirled on its surface. Was that a pattern? It was hard to tell through the crust, but it didn't look like a machine. How was it glowing like that? Jason had never seen anything like it, except Lagann. Billy was practically glowing himself, with delight and pride. "My dad always knew the best spots."

"We all found them." Zack said. "And if they're worth money..."

"No, _he_ found them." Jason said, nodding at Billy. "Chill out."

Then Kimberly said, "Do you hear that?" All of them did. Sirens, getting closer.

"Mine security!" Zack said.

 _~Cue SWAT Theme~_

They all ran in different directions. Jason got to the van and got it started as Billy piled in. A mine security van and two ATVs were chasing around ofter the other three kids. Jason gunned the van down the sloping dirt road. "You gonna leave the others?" Billy shouted. He hauled the van around in a one-eighty and nearly collided with one if the ATVs. The girls were running down the path that ran parallel to the road. Jason caught Billy's eye and nodded at the steering wheel. "You drive!" He let the wheel go and jumped into the back of the van.

"I don't really drive!" Billy shouted back.

"Then don't really drive a little closer to the edge of the road so I can pull them in!" The van swerved around as Billy got control. Well, sorta. Jason threw the sliding door open. "C'mon! Get in!" he yelled at the girls. They ran faster. He pulled them in, and all three of them spilled onto the seat.

"What about the other guy?" Billy shouted.

Jason looked at the girls. They looked at him. Then they all shouted, "Just go!" Zack could take care of himself.

"Downhill!" Jason yelled. "Just drive to the lights! Go!" Jason climbed into the front passenger seat and looked ahead. "Keep going! We're almost out—Look, there's the road and the railroad crossing!"

The crossing lights on the tracks flashed red and the crossing gate was coming down to block the road. "Guys, there's a train." Kimberly said nervously. They could all see it coming.

"Keep going." Jason said. "We got it." At least he thought they did. A second later, out o' nowhere, Zack slammed down onto the windshield and scrambled to hold on to the hood. All of them were scrambling at each other. Jason ripped open the side door and reached to get a grip on Zack. Kimberly helped. They all fell onto the backseat again. "Are you crazy?!" Jason yelled.

Zack was grinning. "Yes, I am!"

Billy kept his foot on the gas. They were getting closer to the crossing. "We got this, we got this, we got this." Jason said over and over again. The train was coming fast, but they would make it. Sure they would. The van barreled closer to the crossing. Jason leaned forward in his seat like he could push the van to go faster. It was going to be close. Real close...Too close, he realized, too late to do anything about it. The train was right on them, blaring its horn. Glare from its headlight filled the inside of the van. They crashed through the crossing gate, splintering its wooden arms, and a split second later, the train crashed into them.


End file.
